OBJECTIVES: Malignant neoplasm of other and ill-defined sites in the lip, oral cavity and pharynx (OC) is a significant burden for both the individual and society. Our aim was to determine the annual health insurance treatment cost of OC in Hungary.

METHODS: The data were derived from the financial database of the Hungarian National Health Insurance Fund Administration (NHIFA), for the year 2018. Data analysed included annual health insurance costs, patient numbers and cost distribution calculated for age groups and sex. The following cost categories were included into the study: general practice care, home care, in- and outpatient care, medical imaging, drugs and medical aids. Patients with OC were identified with the following code of the International Classification of Diseases 10^th revision: C14.

RESULTS: In 2018, the NHIFA spent 480.06 million Hungarian Forints (HUF) for the treatment of patients with OC [1,78 million American Dollars (USD), or 1,5 million Euros (EUR)]. 77.7% of costs was spent on the treatment of male, while 22.3% on female patients. The highest patient numbers were in outpatient care: 916 men (72.8%), and 342 women (27.2%) in total 1,258 patients. Acute inpatient care (62.8% of total health insurance costs in men and 61.5% in women), pharmaceuticals (14.9% in men and 15.1% in women) and medical imaging (CT, MRI) (6.9% in men and 7.9% in women) were the main cost drivers, while all other forms of medical care amounted to 15.4% in men and 15.5% in women. Annual health care treatment cost per patient was 1,08 million HUF (3,991 USD/3,383EUR) in men and 971,3 thousand HUF (3,595 USD/3,046 EUR) in women.

CONCLUSIONS: The male patients over 50 years old consumed most of the cost. Despite the low incidence of this disease is often detected in advanced stages when treatment is more complex and costlier.